Sexual orientation discrimination

Editor's message: Sexual orientation is a "protected characteristic" under the Equality Act 2010 and means sexual orientation towards persons of the same sex, persons of the opposite sex or persons of either sex. Its protection extends from direct and indirect discrimination to harassment and victimisation, including discrimination on the grounds of a person's perceived sexual orientation.

Ensuring that your organisation respects and values employees of whatever sexual orientation is key to establishing an inclusive and diverse workplace. There are various steps that your organisation can take to achieve this, including equality awareness training and having an effective equal opportunities policy that is promoted and embedded within its culture. Such steps will also help your organisation to defend a complaint should it ever arise.

In July 1967, the Sexual Offences Act 1967 partially decriminalised homosexuality in England and Wales. To mark the 50th anniversary of this seminal moment in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, we highlight some of the key milestones for workplace protection against sexual orientation discrimination.

In this week's podcast, we explore the steps that you can take to reduce the risk of having an indirectly discriminatory provision, criterion or practice. We also discuss what to take into account when deciding whether or not indirect discrimination can be justified.

We round up three recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgments about discrimination. The ECJ has recently considered: temporary incapacity caused by a workplace accident in Barcelona; the recruitment age limit for Basque police officers; and survivors' pensions for same-sex partners in Ireland.

In this case about discrimination in the provision of goods and services, the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal has held that a Christian bakery committed direct sexual orientation discrimination when it refused to fulfil an order for a cake featuring a message in support of same-sex marriage.

The "Brexit" referendum on whether or not the UK should withdraw from the European Union takes place on 23 June 2016. Stephen Simpson rounds up 12 key European cases that have had a major impact on UK employment law.

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